English Knowledge Organiser Pg 20-21

Question 1

noun phrase

Answer 1

A group of words built around a noun

Question 2

verb phrase

Answer 2

A group of words built around a head (main) verb

Question 3

head word

Answer 3

The main noun in the phrase

Question 4

pre-modifier

Answer 4

A word that goes before the head noun to add detail or clarify some aspect of it

Question 5

qualifier

Answer 5

An additional word or phrase that adds some further detail to the noun

Question 6

post-modifier

Answer 6

A word that comes after the head noun to add detail or clarify some aspect of it

Question 7

primary auxiliary verb

Answer 7

An auxiliary verb that joins with the main verb to show tense

Question 8

modal auxiliary verb

Answer 8

An auxiliary verb that joins with a main verb to show the degree of commitment towards an event or person that a speaker holds

Question 9

clause

Answer 9

Groups of words centred around a verb phrase

Question 10

coordination

Answer 10

The joining of two clauses that gives them equal weighting

Question 11

subordination

Answer 11

The joining of two clauses that gives one clause (the main clause) more weighting than another clause – or clauses (the subordinate clause(s))

Question 12

adverbial clause

Answer 12

A subordinate clause that functions as an adverbial

Question 13

noun clause

Answer 13

A subordinate clause that functions as a subject, object or complement (e.g. She was saddened by what she had read)

Question 14

active voice

Answer 14

Agent in subject position for prominence; verb phrase in present or past tense

Question 15

passive voice

Answer 15

Agent omitted or placed later in the clause using a prepositional phrase; verb phrase changes to a form of to be + participle form (verb root + en/ed)

Question 16

ortographic sentence

Answer 16

A ‘sentence’ marked by a capital letter and full stop but containing no verb

Question 17

phonetics

Answer 17

The area of study that is concerned with how sounds are actually produced by language users

Question 18

phonology

Answer 18

The area of study that refers to the more abstract sound system

Question 19

prosodics

Answer 19

The study of how speakers can shape meanings through emphasising certain aspects of intonation, speed and volume

Question 20

international phonetic alphabet (IPA)

Answer 20

A system for showing the different sounds possible

Question 21

heterophones

Answer 21

Words that have the same spelling but very different pronunciations and meanings (e.g. tear)

Question 22

homophones

Answer 22

Words that are pronounced the same but have a different meaning and may have different spellings; e.g. there and their

Question 23

articulators

Answer 23

The vocal organs above the larynx, including the lips, teeth, tongue and hard palate that help to form consonant sounds

Question 24

diphthong

Answer 24

A vowel sound that is the combination of two separate sounds, where a speaker moves from one to another (e.g. cloud)

Question 25

sound iconicity

Answer 25

The matching of sound to an aspect of meaning

Question 26

consonance

Answer 26

A pattern of repeated consonant sounds for effect

Question 27

assonance

Answer 27

A pattern of repeated vowel sounds for effect

Question 28

sibilance

Answer 28

A pattern of repeated fricative sounds, especially /s/, for effect

Question 29

lexical onomatopoeia

Answer 29

Words that have some associated meaning between their sound and what they represent

Question 30

non-lexical onomatopoeia

Answer 30

‘Non-words’ that nonetheless are intended to signify some meaning through their sound (e.g. sss)

Question 31

phonological manipulation

Answer 31

Making creative changes in sound patterns to give certain effects

Question 32

minimal pair

Answer 32

Two words that differ in only one single sound

Question 33

layout

Answer 33

The physical organisation of a text

Question 34

iconic sign

Answer 34

A sign or image that is a direct picture of the thing it represents

Question 35

symbolic sign

Answer 35

A sign or image where an associated meaning is drawn from some shared degree of knowledge

Question 36

typographical feature

Answer 36

A feature related to the use of fonts in texts

Question 37

multimodal text

Answer 37

A text that relies on the interplay of different codes (e.g. the visual and the written) to help shape meaning

Question 38

embodied knowledge

Answer 38

Knowledge that is associated with memories of physically experiencing something, for example the sights and smells of visiting a city

Question 39

schema

Answer 39

A bundle of knowledge about a concept, person or event

Question 40

co-text

Answer 40

Other words or phrases surrounding a word in a text

Question 41

cooperative principle

Answer 41

The general principle that people work together to communicate

Question 42

conversational maxims

Answer 42

Explicit principles that provide a backdrop for conversation to take place so that speakers can easily understand one another

Question 43

implicature

Answer 43

An implied meaning that has to be inferred by a speaker as a result of one of the maxims being broken

Question 44

positive face need

Answer 44

A universal human need to feel valued and appreciated

Question 45

negative face need

Answer 45

A universal human need to feel independent and not be imposed upon

Question 46

face threatening act

Answer 46

A speech act that has the potential to damage someone’s self-esteem either in terms of positive or negative face

Question 47

politeness strategies

Answer 47

Distinctive ways in which speakers can choose to speak to avoid threatening face

Question 48

deixis

Answer 48

Words that are context-bound and whose meaning depends on who is using them, and where and when they are being used

Question 49

deictic categories

Answer 49

Types of deictic expressions (person, spatial and temporal)

Question 50

proximal deixis

Answer 50

Deictic expressions that refer to concepts, events or people close to the speaker

Question 51

distal deixis

Answer 51

Deictic expressions that refer to concepts, events or people at a distance from the speaker